Steven Thomas, a partner in Irell & Manella LLP’s Los Angeles office, is the head of the art law practice group, and also a member of the real estate and commercial finance practice groups.

Mr. Thomas has advised on the many varied aspects of the purchase, auction, sale, and collection of fine art, cultural property, memorabilia and collectables, including national and international transactions among collectors, dealers, museums, galleries, and auction houses. His practice in these areas includes addressing the key elements of such transactions, including title, authenticity, condition, value and provenance, as well as due diligence and how to achieve it for buyers and sellers, and pitfalls and protections for buyers and sellers.  Mr. Thomas' practice also includes planning for and consideration of foreign, federal, and state tax consequences (including sales, use, income, personal property and taxes); tax deferred exchanges; customs export and import concerns; art insurance (including art insurance review and negotiation of policy terms and provisions); intellectual property and domestic and foreign moral rights concerns; resale royalties; and cultural heritage, treaty, and patrimony matters, among others, as well as negotiating and drafting purchase and sale agreements, bills of sale, escrow agreements, appraisal agreements, art advisor and consulting agreements, review on approval agreements, and introduction agreements.

As an example, in 2006, Mr. Thomas represented Maria Altmann and the other Bloch-Bauer heirs and negotiated the sale of what was then internationally reported as the most expensive painting ever sold, Gustav Klimt's "gold" portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, restituted to the Bloch-Bauer heirs by Austria and sold by them to the Neue Galerie New York. Mr. Thomas has also advised on several other world record setting art transactions, both privately and at auction.  Mr. Thomas counts among his clients some of the world’s foremost collectors and artists, and several of his clients are trustees at a variety of museums.  Please see the art practice area section for further description of Mr. Thomas's practice and experience. http://www.irell.com/practices-11.html

Representing private collectors and others, Mr. Thomas has drafted and negotiated loan agreements for single and multiple works of art to various museums and exhibitions, both nationally and internationally, including addressing tax, copyright, insurance, export, import, and anti-seizure concerns, among other matters.  On behalf of private collectors, he has also negotiated some of the largest ever single owner auction consignments and auction house guarantees, including several resulting world auction records.  Mr. Thomas also advises private collectors on charitable gifting of art to museums, other institutions and foundations. In addition, Mr. Thomas has advised on both public and private commissions of art, involving individual and multiple works for large public and private developments including stadium arenas, town centers and major retail and resort projects.

Mr. Thomas is an Adjunct Professor at the UCLA School of Law and annually teaches a course in Art and Cultural Property Law.  He also lectures at conferences (including a variety of ALI-ABA and other bar association seminars and conferences, the USC Tax Institute and the Heckerling Institute), museums, legal education programs, art fairs and art-related gatherings (including IFAR, Los Angeles Art Fair and ARCO).

Mr. Thomas has also authored articles on art law issues and an in-depth, practical guide for art collectors, titled An Overview of Issues of Interest to the Art Collector. Mr. Thomas has been featured and/or quoted, and some of the transactions he has handled or advised on have been described, in a variety of articles regarding legal issues and other matters of interest to art collectors, including by AP, Bloomberg, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, the Washington Post, Forbes, the Art Newspaper, Art & Auction, ARTnews, BBC, Robb Report, Estate Planning Journal, BNA State Tax Notes, ABA Journal, Los Angeles Business Journal, Los Angeles Daily Journal, and Private Wealth Management, among others. Mr. Thomas is also a member of  the Museum of Modern Art Planned Giving Advisory Committee.

Representing a broad base of clients, Mr. Thomas also has extensive experience in a wide array of real property matters, including development, acquisition, and sale of improved and unimproved real property, from commercial to multi-family to major residential estates. His work also includes developing construction and architect agreements for commercial and estate properties, including some of the larger casinos and resorts in Las Vegas and elsewhere in the country. Mr. Thomas also has experience in financing matters, including debt restructuring and workouts.

Mr. Thomas was selected by his peers in 2007, 2008, and again in 2009 for inclusion in Los Angeles Magazine's Southern California "Super Lawyers."  Mr. Thomas has also been named as a Corporate Counsel Super Lawyer by the Los Angeles Magazine-2009.  Mr. Thomas clerked with the Honorable John A. Mackenzie, Chief Judge for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. He also has served on the board of the Western Law Center for Disability Rights and on the board and executive committee of the Inner City Law Center.

Bar & Court Admissions

• 1987, California
• 1987, U.S. District Court, Central District of California; 1992, U.S. Supreme Court; U.S. District Court, District of Arizona